Surface treating machine with direct connection

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a machine for treating a surface lying in an XY plane. The machine includes a body having a body plate, a working plate, a working pad, a drive assembly and an attachment assembly. The attachment assembly includes a plurality of flexible connectors directly connecting the body plate to the working plate. The working plate is located between the body plate and the XY plane. The drive assembly is connected to the working plate to drive the working plate with a working vibration in an oscillating pattern parallel to the XY plane.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a machine for cleaning or otherwise treatingfloors and other work surfaces formed of carpet, tile, wood and othermaterials. The most efficient and effective surface treatments employ avibration, “scrubbing”, motion to loosen materials on the work surfaceand within any permeable material, such as a rug or other fabric, underor part of the work surface. On floors and other work surfaces, amachine typically uses a cleaning towel, “pad”, in combination with asolvent, including water or steam, and/or a cleaning agent. Removal ofsome stains or other material is sometimes better achieved without asolvent or cleaning agent. When the cleaning towel scrubs the floor andbecomes dirty, the towel is replaced with a clean one. The surfacetreating machine can be used for sanders where the pad is sand paper,can be used for tile scrubbing where the pad is especially suited forscrubbing tile. Many different surfaces can employ surface treatingmachines.

Important attributes of surface treating machines are cleaning orworking effectiveness, ease of use, convenience, stability, lightweight, low machine wear, long life and ease of maintenance. Theseattributes are import for machines used by professionals in heavy dutyenvironments or used by other consumers in home or other light dutyenvironments.

Cleaning and working effectiveness require that machines include a smalloscillation that creates a local vibration in a working plate andworking pad to impart a “scrubbing” movement to the surface beingtreated. For cleaning floors, the local vibration is preferably in arange of several millimeters. Cleaning effectiveness and conveniencefrequently requires that the shape of the working plate be rectangularso as to be readily used along straight edges and easily moved intorectangular corners. In order to satisfy these attributes, machines withround bottom plates are often undesirable.

Ease of use and convenience require stability, appropriate size andweight and ease of operator control. Designs that position the motor anddrive assembly high above the working plate are undesirable since suchconfigurations tend to excessively accentuate vertical instability.Vertical instability results in unwanted oscillation of the workingplate up and down in a mode that is in and out of the plane of the worksurface. The plane of the work surface is referred to, for example, asthe floor surface plane or the XY-plane. Excessive vertical instabilityis distinguished from horizontal oscillations providing local vibrationto impart a “scrubbing” movement to the working plate. The horizontaloscillations are parallel to the plane of the work surface, that is,parallel to the XY-plane. Vertical instability is additionallyundesirable because it uses excessive amounts of energy, reduces theenergy efficiency of the machine and causes increased wear on the motor,the drive shafts, the drivers and the drive bushings. The increased wearincreases maintenance and decreases the life of the machine. Userfatigue is dramatic when unwanted vertical oscillations occur.

High energy efficiency is an important attribute. For machines poweredby an AC electrical service through an AC-to-DC converter or powered bya battery, the size and cost of the motor is a function of the energyrequirements needed to drive the transmission and the working plate. ForDC motors, the energy requirements are important for the motor and forthe AC-to-DC converter used to convert the AC electrical service to DC.The more energy efficient the machines, the smaller and less expensiveare the AC-to-DC converters, batteries and motors required to power themachines.

In light of the above background, it is desirable to have improvedsurface treatment machines for treating carpets, tiles, wood and othersurface materials.

SUMMARY

The present invention a machine for treating a surface lying in an XYplane comprising a body having a body plate and a working plate locatedbetween the body plate and the XY plane. A working pad is attached tothe working plate. A drive assembly is connected to the working plate todrive the working plate and working pad with a working vibration in anoscillating pattern parallel to the XY plane. An attachment assemblyflexibly attaches the working plate to the body plate to permit theworking plate to vibrate relative to the body plate and to isolate theworking vibration from the body. The attachment assembly includes aplurality of flexible connectors directly connecting the body plate tothe working plate.

In one embodiment, the attachment assembly includes four flexibleconnectors directly connecting the body plate to the working plate.

In one embodiment, the one or more of the flexible connectors is aU-shaped connector including a main portion along an axis substantiallynormal to the XY plane and between the body plate and the working plate.A U-shaped portion connected in the main portion has first and secondlegs formed substantially parallel to the XY plane whereby the U-shapedconnector has increased movability in the XY direction

In one embodiment, all of the flexible connectors are U-shapedconnectors.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be ap-parent from the following detailed description inconjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a side view of one embodiment of a surface treatingmachine.

FIG. 2 depicts a side view of the surface treating machine of FIG. 1with the handle parallel to the surface to be treated.

FIG. 3 depicts details of the surface treating machine of FIG. 1 andFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 depicts a front view of another embodiment of a surface treatingmachine.

FIG. 5 a perspective view of the core components of the surface treatingmachine of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 depicts the core components associated with the working plate ofthe surface treating machine of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 depicts an expanded view of a portion of the core components ofthe surface treating machine of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 depicts a front perspective view of the core components of thesurface treating machine of FIG. 4 in greater detail.

FIG. 9 depicts further details of the motor assembly and motor.

FIG. 10 depicts an exploded view of the motor with the stator removedfrom the rotor.

FIG. 11 depicts an alternate design for the attachment assembly.

FIG. 12 depicts a front perspective view of the core components of thesurface treating machine with the attachment assembly of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, a side view of a surface treating machine 1 includes a body 9for cleaning, polishing or other treating of the floor or other surface18 lying in a plane denominated as the XY-plane. The machine 1 includesa handle assembly 15 affixed to the body 9 for enabling a user to guidemachine 1 over a floor surface 18 lying in the XY-plane. The handleassembly 15 has a length extending from the body 9 at a variable anglewith the XY-plane and connected to the body by a connector 15-1. Thehandle assembly 15 includes connector 15-1, a lower extension 15-4, aconnector 15-3, an upper extension 15-2 and a curved handle 15-5. Thehandle assembly 15 is rotation-ally attached to body 9 and adjusts toacute angles with the cleaning surface 18 when in use for cleaning. Thehandle assembly 15 includes a latch (not shown) for latching the handleassembly 15 for transport and storage of the machine 1 when not inoperation. The connector 15-1 is located near the rear and close to anedge of the body 9, well behind the center of gravity of the machine 1.

In FIG. 2, a side view of the surface treating machine 1 of FIG. 1 isshown with the handle 15 parallel to the surface 18 to be treated. Theparts of the handle 15 including the connector 15-1, the lower extension15-4, the connector 15-3 and the upper extension 15-2 typically do notextend above the height of the body 9 in the Z-axis direction when thehandle 15 is lowered to the surface 18. Accordingly, the surfacetreating machine 1 while operating easily fits underneath many pieces offurniture when the handle 15 is lowered as shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 3, further details of the body 9 of FIG. 1 are shown. The body 9includes a drive assembly 10, a body plate 16, a working plate assembly12 and a cleaning head in the form of working pad 6. The body plate 16is attached to the body 9 and the working plate assembly 12. The workingplate assembly 12 is attached to the body plate 16 by a flexiblevibration-isolating attachment assembly 7 that permits the working plateassembly 12 to oscillate relative to the body plate 16 and the body 9.The attachment assembly 7 includes separators for separating the workingplate 5 and the body plate 16. The working plate assembly 12 includes aworking plate 5 and a working pad 6. The drive assembly 10 drives theworking plate and working pad with a cleaning vibration in anoscillating pattern parallel to the XY plane.

Details of one embodiment of the surface treating machine 1 are shown infurther detail in U.S. Pat. No. 10,702,115. U.S. Pat. No. 10,702,115 ishereby incorporated by reference in this specification for describingdetails of one embodiment of a surface treating machine 1.

In FIG. 4, a front view of another embodiment of a surface treatingmachine 20 is shown. In FIG. 4, the surface treating machine 20 includesa body frame 19, including battery 19-1, and core components 21. Thebody frame 19 includes a battery and other electrical equipment forpowering the surface treating machine 20. The core components include aworking plate 32 attached to the body plate 36 by an attachment assembly37 including connectors 37-1, 37-2, 37-3 and 37-4. The attachmentassembly 37 including the connectors 37-3 and 37-4. The connectors 37-3and 37-4 are connected by epoxy or other means to the working plate 32in the receptors 38-3 and 38-4, respectively. The receptors 38-3 and38-4 are located in height adjusting blocks 35-3 and 35-4 formed ofpolycarbonate, metal or other materials and rigidly attached to workingplate 32. The motor drive assembly 30 is rigidly attached to workingplate 32.

In FIG. 5, a perspective view of the core components 21 of the surfacetreating machine 20 of FIG. 4 are shown in greater detail. The bodyplate 36 is rigidly attached to the body 21 and handle 25 of the surfacetreating machine 20 of FIG. 4. The working plate 32 is attached to thebody plate 36 by an attachment assembly 37 including connectors 37-3 and37-4 and connectors 37-1 and 37-2 (not shown). The attachment assembly37, including the connectors 37-1 and 37-2 (not shown) and theconnectors 37-3 and 37-4 are connected by epoxy or other means to thebody plate 36 in the receptors 39-1, 39-2, 39-3 and 39-4, respectively.The attachment assembly 37, including the connectors 37-1 and 37-2 (notshown) and the connectors 37-3 and 37-4 are connected by epoxy or othermeans to the working plate 32 in the receptors 38-1, 38-2 (not shown)and 39-3 and 39-4, respectively.

In FIG. 6, the core components 21 associated with the working plate 32of the surface treating machine 20 of FIG. 4 are shown in greaterdetail. The working plate 32 is attached to the body plate 36 by anattachment assembly 37 including connectors 37-1, 37-2, 37-3 and 37-4.The attachment assembly 37, including the connectors 37-1, 37-2, 37-3and 37-4, is connected by epoxy or other means to the working plate 32in the receptors 38-1, 38-2, 38-3 and 38-4, respectively. The receptors38-1, 38-2, 38-3 and 38-4 are located in height adjusting blocks 35-1,35-2, 35-3 and 35-4 formed of polycarbonate, metal or other materialsand attached to working plate 32. The core components in FIG. 6 includethe support 41 including support members 41-1, 41-2, 41-3 and 41-4. Thesupport 41 is formed of polycarbonate, metal or other materials forsupporting the motor drive assembly 30. The motor drive assembly 30 isattached by bolts 42-1, 42-2, 42-3 and 42-4 or other means to thesupport 41. The motor (not shown) is attached by bolts 43-1, 43-2, 43-3and 43-4 or other means to the motor drive assembly 30. The supportmembers 41-1, 41-2, 41-3 and 41-4, for supporting the drive assembly 30and the working plate 32 are preferably formed from light weightcomposite sheet honeycomb core sandwich material. The honeycomb coresandwich in one embodiment is made with aramid fiber paper (DUPONT Nomexor equivalent) coated with heat resistant phenolic resin to provideexcellent resiliency, low density and high strength to weight ratio.

In FIG. 7, an expanded view of a portion of the core components 21 ofthe surface treating machine 20 of FIG. 6 is shown in greater detail.The working plate 32 is attached to the body plate 36 by the attachmentassembly 37 connector 37-4. The attachment assembly 37 connector 37-4 inblock 35-4 is connected by epoxy or other means to the working plate 32in the receptor 38-4. The core components in FIG. 7 include the support41 including support members 41-1 and 41-3. The support 41 is formed ofpolycarbonate, metal or other material for supporting the motor driveassembly 30. The motor drive assembly 30 includes components 31 forcontrolling the surface treating machine 20 of FIG. 4.

In FIG. 8, a front perspective view of the core components 21 of thesurface treating machine 20 of FIG. 4 are shown in greater detail. Theworking plate 32 is attached to the body plate 36 by an attachmentassembly 37 including a plurality of flexible connectors directlyconnecting the body plate to the working plate, specifically includesconnectors 37-1, 37-2, 37-3 and 37-4. While four connectors 37 areshown, fewer than four flexible connectors can be employed. Theattachment assembly 37, including the connectors 37-1, 37-2, 37-3 and37-4, is connected by epoxy or other means to the working plate 32 inthe receptors 38-1, 38-2 (not shown), 38-3 and 38-4, respectively. Thereceptors 38-1, 38-2, 38-3 and 38-4 are located in height adjustingblocks 35-1, 35-2 (not shown), 35-3 and 35-4 formed of polycarbonate,metal or other materials and attached to working plate 32. The corecomponents in FIG. 8 include the support 41 including support members41-1 (not shown), 41-2 (not shown), 41-3 and 41-4. The support 41 isformed of polycarbonate, metal or other materials for supporting themotor drive assembly 30.

In FIG. 9, further details of the motor drive assembly 30 and motor 55are shown. The motor drive assembly 30 includes a frame 50 that isrigidly attached to the support members 41 in FIG. 8. The motor 55 has astator 51 rigidly attached to the frame 50 and the frame 50 is in turnrigidly attached to the working plate 32 of FIG. 8.

In FIG. 10, an exploded view of the motor 55 is shown with the stator 51removed from the rotor 52. The motor 55 is a DC motor obtaining powerfrom a battery in the The rotor 52 has an offset member 53 rigidlyattached to the rotor 52. The offset member 53 includes a weight 54which causes the motor 55 to vibrate as the rotor 52 and offset member53 rotate. The off-set 53 causes the working plate 5 and the attachedworking pad 6 to oscillate in the XY-plane, that is, in the planeparallel to the working surface. In general, the working vibration is ina range from 1 mm to 5 mm.

In one embodiment, the rotation speed of the motor is approximately16,000 rpm when the surface treating machine 20 of FIG. 4 is a sanderfor sanding wood and other materials. In other embodiments the speed islower and in still other embodiments the speed is higher. The vibrationcaused by the motor assembly of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 causes the workingplate 32 of FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 to vibrate. In one embodiment when thesurface treating machine 20 of FIG. 4 is a sander for sanding wood andother materials, the working plate 32 has an oscillation travel ofapproximately 1 mm. The motor 55 diameter is 33 mm and the motor 55height is 25 mm. The custom KV is 700. This sander motor 55 runs from a24 volt battery giving the motor 55 nominally a no-load speed of 17,280rpm and an approximate in-use speed of 16,000 rpm. The motor 55 isobtained from the Shenzhen Brotherhobby Co., Limited of Shenzhen, Chinathat does business on the WEB as the BrotherHobby store. In one example,the motor 55 is a custom motor built by BrotherHobby based on the motor:https://www.brotherhobbystore.com/avenger-2810-motor-p0100.html.

In another embodiment for a handheld cleaner for upholstery, showers andsimilar work, the motor 55 has a diameter of 29 mm and a height of 21mm. The custom KV number is 450 so that motor 55 runs at 450 rpm forevery volt applied to the motor with no-load. For run-ning at 12 volts,the motor 55 has a nominal no-load speed of 5,400 rpm and an approximatein-use speed of 5,000 rpm. This motor is also from BrotherHobby and isthe following motor with a custom KV of 450:https://www.brotherhobbystore.com/avenger-2507-v2-motor-p0082.html.

In FIG. 11, an alternate design for the core component view of FIG. 7 isshown. The working plate 32 is attached to the body plate 36 by theattachment assembly 47 including connector 47-4. The connector 47-4 inFIG. 11 has a right angle U-shape including arms 47-41 and 47-42 thatextend at right angles normal to the primary axis 47-0 of connect 47-4.The arms 47-41 and 47-42 are connected by arm 47-43 parallel to the axis47-0. The attachment assembly 47 connector 47-4 in block 35-4 isconnected by epoxy or other means to the working plate 32 in thereceptor 38-4. The block 35-4 is rigidly connected to the working plate32. The core components in FIG. 11 include the support 41 includingsupport members 41-1 and 41-3. The support 41 is formed ofpolycarbonate, metal or other material for supporting the motor driveassembly 30. In FIG. 11, the flexible connector 47-4 incudes a mainportion that extends along the axis 47-0 substantially normal to the XYplane and between the body plate 36 and the working plate 32, a U-shapedportion connected to the main portion having first leg 47-1 and secondleg 47-2 formed substantially parallel to the XY plane. The U-shapedconnector 47-4 provides greater freedom for the connector 47-4 to movein the XY direction allowing smoother operation of the connectionbetween the body plate 36 and the working plate 32.

In FIG. 12, a front perspective view of the core components 21 of thesurface treating machine 20 of FIG. 4 are shown in greater detail withthe attachment assembly 37 including connectors 37-1, 37-2, 37-3 and37-4 of FIG. 8 replaced by the attachment assembly 47 includingconnectors 47-1, 47-2, 47-3 and 47-4 of the type shown by connector 47-4in FIG. 11. The working plate 32 is attached to the body plate 36 by anattachment assembly 47 including connectors 47-1, 47-2, 47-3 and 47-4.The attachment assembly 37, including the connectors 47-1, 47-2, 47-3and 47-4, is connected by epoxy or other means to the working plate 32in the receptors 38-1, 38-2 (not shown), 38-3 and 38-4, respectively.The receptors 38-1, 38-2, 38-3 and 38-4 are located in height adjustingblocks 35-1, 35-2 (not shown), 35-3 and 35-4 formed of polycarbonate,metal or other materials and attached to working plate 32. The corecomponents in FIG. 8 include the support 41 including support members41-1 (not shown), 41-2 (not shown), 41-3 and 41-4. The support 41 isformed of polycarbonate, metal or other materials for supporting themotor drive assembly 30.

In the surface treating machine of U.S. Pat. No. 10,702,115, the driveassembly included two motors. In accordance with the presentspecification, the two motors can be of the type described in thepresent specification. In the surface treating machine of U.S. Pat. No.10,702,115, the body plate is separated from the working (cleaning)plate by an attachment assembly including ball bearings and compressiondevices. The compression devices urge the body plate and the working(cleaning) plate toward each other while the ball bearings hold the bodyplate and the working (cleaning) plate 5 apart. The ball bearings allowthe body plate and the working (cleaning) plate to slide parallel toeach other and parallel to the XY-plane thereby allowing the working(cleaning) plate to oscillate parallel to the XY-plane. In the presentspecification the attachment assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 10,702,115 isreplaced by an attachment assembly of the present specification. Forexample, the an attachment assembly 37 including connectors 37-1, 37-2,37-3 and 37-4 of FIG. 8 or the attachment assembly 47 includingconnectors 47-1, 47-2, 47-3 and 47-4 of FIG. 12 are used to replace theball bearing and compression attachment assembly of U.S. Pat. No.10,702,115.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments thereof it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

1. A machine for treating a surface lying in an XY plane comprising, abody having a body plate, a working plate located between the body plateand the XY plane, a working pad attached to the working plate, a driveassembly connected to the working plate to drive the working plate andworking pad with a working vibration in an oscillating pattern parallelto the XY plane, an attachment assembly for flexibly attaching theworking plate to the body plate to permit the working plate to vibraterelative to the body plate and to isolate the working vibration from thebody, the attachment assembly including a plurality of flexibleconnectors directly connecting the body plate to the working plate. 2.The machine of claim 1 wherein the working vibration is in a range from1 mm to 5 mm.
 3. The machine of claim 1 wherein the attachment assemblyincludes four flexible connectors directly connecting the body plate tothe working plate.
 4. The machine of claim 1 wherein one or more of theflexible connectors is a U-shaped connector including a main portionalong an axis substantially normal to the XY plane and between the bodyplate and the working plate, a U-shaped portion connected in the mainportion having first and second legs formed substantially parallel tothe XY plane whereby the U-shaped connector has increased movability inthe XY direction.
 5. The machine of claim 4 wherein all of the flexibleconnectors are U-shaped connectors.
 6. The machine of claim 1 whereinthe drive assembly includes a motor having, a stator fixed to theworking plate, a rotor for rotating on a motor axis about the stator, anoffset weight rotated asymmetrically by the rotor around the motor axiswhereby the working plate is driven with a vibration in an oscillatingpattern parallel to the XY plane.
 7. The machine of claim 6 wherein themotor is a DC motor.
 8. The machine of claim 7 further including abattery for supplying power to the DC motor.
 9. A machine for treating asurface lying in an XY plane comprising, a body having a body plate, aworking plate located between the body plate and the XY plane, a workingpad attached to the working plate, a drive assembly connected to theworking plate to drive the working plate and working pad with a workingvibration in an oscillating pattern parallel to the XY plane, anattachment assembly for flexibly attaching the working plate to the bodyplate to permit the working plate to vibrate relative to the body plateand to isolate the working vibration from the body, the attachmentassembly including four a U-shaped connectors each including a mainportion along an axis substantially normal to the XY plane and betweenthe body plate and the working plate, a U-shaped portion connected inthe main portion having first and second legs formed substantiallyparallel to the XY plane whereby the U-shaped connectors have increasedmovability in the XY direction.
 11. The machine of claim 9 including acarbon honeycomb core sandwich for the working plate.
 12. The machine ofclaim 9 including a carbon honeycomb core sandwich for supporting thedrive assembly.